News Reports for May 17, 2012

China: Cluster of Influenza A cases in Caritas Medical Centre (Hong Kong)

(Snip) A Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) spokesperson made the following announcement today (May 16):

A total of three children (two male and one female, aged 16-17) of developmental and disabilities unit have presented with respiratory symptoms and fever since May 9. Influenza tests have been arranged and confirmed all of them have been suffering from Influenza A. The concerned patients are being treated under isolation. One of them is in serious condition and the other patients are in stable condition.

Infection control measures have been stepped up according to established guidelines. Continued: http://7thspace.com/headlines/...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 05:30:10 AM UTC

New Zealand: Time running out for flu jabs

The message has gone out to Wanganui people - get your influenza vaccination now. The number of winter flu jabs administered is slightly ahead of last year but doctors said that those still seeking protection would have to act fast.

Dr Rick Nicholson, a partner in the Aramoho Health Centre, said patients at their clinics had responded "really well" to the call for vaccination. "But our message is that if you haven't had it then please, please get it done now, because flu is starting to kick in," Dr Nicholson said.

Overall, public response to getting the flu jabs has accelerated, with more than 858,980 doses distributed around the country this year, about 28,500 up on the same period last year.

But Dr Lance Jennings, spokesman for the National Influenza Specialist Group (NISG), said time was running out for those still unprotected from what can be a serious illness. Continued: http://www.wanganuichronicle.c...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 05:38:04 AM UTC

Theraclone Sciences reports positive phase 1 trial results for influenza A antibody

Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a Seattle-based therapeutic antibody developer, announced positive top-line data from its phase 1 trial of a broadly protective, fully human monoclonal antibody meant to treat infections of influenza A.

The company found that the antibody, TCN-032, had no dose-limiting toxicities, was well tolerated throughout the study and exhibited a favorable profile for immunogenicity. The trial was supported partly by a multi-year research and development agreement between Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd., and Theraclone to identify essential conserved antibody targets and develop candidates for treating severe and pandemic seasonal influenza.

"TCN-032 is a therapeutic antibody drug candidate discovered with our I-STARTM platform, and we are extremely pleased with the safety and pharmacokinetic profile and lack of immunogenicity generated from its Phase 1 trial," Eleanor Ramos, Theraclone's chief medical officer, said. "Based on these data, we are confident moving forward to the next step in the development of TCN-032, a Phase 2 influenza viral challenge trial to be conducted in human subjects." Continued: http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/va...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 05:44:12 AM UTC

Media Myth on H5N1 Transmission Cookbook Recipe

Recombinomics Commentary

In December, the National Scientific Advisory Board for Biosecurity warned against publishing Fouchier's study and a similar study from Wisconsin.

In March, that same advisory board looked at revised versions and said the Wisconsin study was safe to publish. But some on the panel broke ranks on publishing Fouchier's work. Twelve said yes; six said no.

Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota, was one of the six "no" votes on the board. In a letter to NIH after the vote, Osterholm described the studies as "nearly a complete cookbook" for those who would do harm.

The above comments are from recent widely viewed reports from CNN and ABC news on the upcoming Science paper by Ron Fouchier.  However, the report perpetuates the media myth that the information in the report would act as a "cookbook" for those who would do harm. The use of H5N1 as a bioweapon is far from clear since a transmitting H5N1 would not be controlled.

However, beyond that consideration is the fact that the "cookbook" recipe for a transmitting H5N1 had already been published in Virology in early November, 2011, a month prior to the NSABB warning on the papers submitted to Nature (Kawaoka) and Science (Fouchier).  The Virology paper (by Rubin Donis and associates at the CDC) was remarkably similar to the Nature and Science papers.  The publication in Virology was not redacted and described in detail the creation of H5N1 that passed by contact or aerosol from ferret to ferret. The paper used the two most cite receptor binding domain changes, Q226L and G228S to identify a third change, Q196R, which limited binding to mammalian (gal 2.6) receptors.  Those three H5 changes were generated on one of the first sequences from Egypt (and egret isolate from early 2006, A/egret/Egypt/1162/2006) which was placed on a clade 1 background (one of the first H5n1 cases in Vietnam) with a seasonal N2.  This fully detailed "cookbook" recipe was published in early November, 2011.  The attack rate for contact ferrets was 100%, while those exposed via aerosol was 50%.

The Fouchier recipe was almost identical.  His lab used the first human H5N1 from Indonesia, A/Indonesia/5/2005.  The H5 changes were the same as the first two selected by the CDC (Q226L and G228S) along with PB2 E627K (which was also in the PB2 used by the CDC).  This construct was then passed in ferrets, which led to the selection of two more changes which increased aerosol passage to 100%.  This result was presented at a scientific meeting prior to the NSABB censorship request, and the success of formula using three changes supplemented by two changes identified via ferret passage were widely cited in media reports in 2011.  More recent reports noted that all three of the initial change (2 in H5 and 1 in PB2) matched those used by the CDC.

Thus, the claim that publication of the Fouchier recipe would benefit "those who would do hard" was false. Since the CDC paper was published, and media reports described the relationship between the Fouchier and CDC papers. Continued: http://www.recombinomics.com/N...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 05:59:30 AM UTC

This article seems a little misleading to me

The fact that the Fouchier "cookbook" recipe had already, to all intents and purposes, been published in an article by the CDC in Nov 2011 does not render it harmless as this article implies: It simply means that the data was already out there for "those who would do harm" so having a second or third publication of "how to" doesn't really add to the already present danger....except maybe to give the terrorists a choice of methodologies to try out to achieve the same goal.

Always have a plan B.

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by: maryinhawaii @ Fri May 18, 2012 at 03:12:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I agree

It's also misleading to think that because H5N1 is uncontrollable it wouldn't be used as a weapon. There are some who'd think only the worthy would live and/or those who perished on their side would be martyrs.

The Fouchier "cookbook" also include a method for making it transmissible, though the method is now out there. In some ways the efforts to prevent publication have made things worse because it kept the story alive longer in the MSM.

If I was part of the security sevices I'd be adding ferrets to my list of watchwords and mass purchases of interest.

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by: UK - Bird @ Fri May 18, 2012 at 17:25:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

China: Hong Kong resumes poultry imports after mainland bird flu

Hong Kong has resumed the import of the poultry from the previously bird flu stricken province of Liaoning (Snip) A spokesman for the centre said that frozen poultry and egg imports will resume, as the mainland authorities have implemented measures for monitoring and control of the confirmed case of HPAI reported in Dalian city.

No further cases of HPAI infection have been reported for the area since late April.

The Centre for Food Safety of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region banned the import of poultry products (Snip) from the province of Liaoning for 21 days.

Hong Kong retains different measures for different outbreak scenarios, for both within and outside of province of Guangdong. http://www.worldpoultry.net/ne...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 21:15:44 PM UTC

US: Paul Spring Retirement Home Sees Flu Outbreak (Virginia)

Alexandria: A flu outbreak at Paul Spring Retirement Community has left all communal meals and activities canceled for the indeterminate future, home administrators said Wednesday.

Four residents at the retirement home have been diagnosed with "type A" influenza (Snip) director of nursing, said three of those residents required hospitalization. (Snip) the outbreak began May 9.

(Snip) the retirement home has been in constant contact with the Fairfax County Health Department. "Clearly, we take this situation very seriously and we have taken immediate steps to identify the risks and minimize the potential risks to the rest of our community," Dixon said. "We are continuing to work closely with the health department to (ensure) the safety and care of our entire community."

The retirement home has provided all staff with Tamiflu, (Snip) although flu shots were provided last year in the late fall and early winter, anyone resident or staff member who opted not to get a shot at that time will be encouraged to get one now, she said. Continued:  http://bellehaven.patch.com/ar...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Thu May 17, 2012 at 21:25:54 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for May 18, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Fri May 18, 2012 at 04:33:06 AM UTC